Venezuelan Foreign Ministry spokesperson. Photo: Venezuela News.
“The United States is a dangerous country where human rights for migrants do not exist,” says the statement released by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil on social media, warning that “if you are thinking of traveling, cancel your plans immediately. If you already live there, consider leaving immediately.”
The statement released this Sunday, June 1, states that “the evidence is overwhelming; the United States is a real threat to the life, liberty, and dignity of Venezuelans and all Latin Americans.”
Three points are underlined in the statement.
1. Arbitrary detentions
The United States has a persecution machine against migrants. An example of this is the appalling case of more than 250 Venezuelans currently imprisoned in concentration camps in El Salvador under inhumane conditions, without medical care, without adequate food, subjected to psychological torture and illegal deportations. Furthermore, these innocent Venezuelans are being held hostage by the Venezuelan far right to blackmail national institutions. The perversion of the US system, its xenophobic obsession against Venezuelans, is criminal. We recall the case of Maikelys Antonella Espinoza Bernal, torn from her family’s arms by US immigration authorities as part of their criminal policy of family separation. That is not security; it is state terrorism.
2. Murderous racism
In the United States, being Latino, African American, or a Venezuelan migrant is a life-threatening situation. Police shoot first and ask questions later. Mass shootings are commonplace. Xenophobic laws make Venezuelans easy targets for hate.
3. Institutional hypocrisy
While the US State Department lies about Venezuela, it hides its own atrocities. They talk about kidnappings, but they are the ones stealing children at the border. They accuse people of arbitrariness, but they are the ones locking thousands in cages. They call themselves human rights defenders, but they are the same ones violating international law, including their own domestic laws, by attacking Venezuelan migrants, all in perfect alliance with the failed far right in our country.
That is why Venezuela is speaking out. If you are in the United States, protect your life and that of your family and return to your homeland.
If you plan to travel, do not do it. There is no “American dream” there, only nightmares.
Our duty is to denounce this reality and demand respect for our fellow citizens.
Share this message! Everyone has the support of the Bolivarian government and President Nicolás Maduro, the statement concludes.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/JB
